Bashir's secret trips to Victoria

Abu Bakar Bashir, the Indonesian Islamic cleric linked to the outlawed terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah, made at least one secret visit under an assumed name to Melbourne.

In 1996 or 1997, he reportedly flew into Melbourne from Malaysia where he had fled to escape the Suharto regime.

Details of the visit were revealed yesterday to the Indonesian consul-general and to Nuim Khaiyath, a Melbourne-based broadcaster with Radio Australia, by one of the men whose Melbourne home was raided by federal agents this week and who had hosted Mr Bashir.

The cleric is said to have made up to 12 trips to Australia for a month each time in the decade up to 1998. When he travelled to Melbourne in 1996 or 1997 he used the assumed name Abu Samad to avoid detection.

Mr Bashir, 64, is known to have travelled mostly to Sydney and Perth during his Australian visits but there were reports in Indonesian diplomatic circles last night that he may have made several visits to Melbourne.

It is believed the secrecy of the trip in 1996 or 1997 may have been to avoid the attention of Indonesian and other authorities, rather than Australian scrutiny.

Mr Bashir has since been accused by Singapore and Malaysia of being the spiritual leader of a JI regional terror network, which is alleged to have links to al Qaeda.

He has been detained by Indonesian authorities and is to be interrogated about an assassination plot against Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and several bombings in Indonesia.

Ten years ago he was relatively unknown and is believed not to have attracted any attention during his visits. It is not known if Mr Bashir used the assumed name Abu Samad, which means "the absolute one" or "the eternal one", on every trip to Australia.

Mr Bashir had no money when he arrived in Melbourne but was given food, lodging and transport by members of the Indonesian community who had sponsored his visit.

The Melbourne-based Indonesian national who hosted Mr Bashir at his home or was a driver for the cleric during the Melbourne trip declined to speak with The Age yesterday.

The man is believed to have told federal agents that Mr Bashir travelled to Melbourne for religious purposes and was introduced under the assumed name.

Broadcaster Nuim Khaiyath, who has interviewed Mr Bashir, said he had only yesterday learned that the cleric had visited Melbourne.

He understood the trip lasted a week or two and may have involved Mr Bashir preaching about Islam in several Muslim homes in Melbourne.

Mr Khaiyath said he believed there was nothing suspicious about the cleric's motives or actions. He said Mr Bashir adopting an assume name could be considered logical considering he was living in forced exile and was wanted by the Suharto regime.

Mr Khaiyath compared the cleric's Melbourne visit with trips by the Dalai Lama, who travels around the world to spread a spiritual message.

A spokesman for the Indonesian consul-general in Melbourne said federal agents had confiscated the Indonesian passport of the man who had hosted Mr Bashir and that they had reported the matter to Jakarta.